TEHRAN -- The number of Iranian tourists visiting Turkey in the first nine months of 2002 shows a 33.02 percent increase compared to the same period last year.

According to statistics released by Turkey's Ministry of Tourism, some 343,434 Iranian tourists visited Turkey in the first nine months of 2002.

In the first nine months of 2001, the number of Iranian tourists traveling to Turkey was 258,173 that showed a 16.64 percent decrease compared to the figures for the same period in 2000.

Iranian nationals constitute 2.68 percent of total number of foreign tourists visiting Turkey in the period under study. The figure stood at 3.68 in the same period in 2000, IRNA reported.

Based on the information on hand, only in September 2002, some 54,701 Iranian tourists visited Turkey -- a figure, which showed a 46.75 percent increase compared to the figure for the corresponding month in 2001.

In 2001, 327,013 Iranian tourists visited Turkey, registering a 14.14 percent decline compared to the figure for the same period the year before.

Iranian tourists mostly visit Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, and the Turkish port cities on the Mediterranean Sea, especially Antalya.

Turkey's tourism sector attracted 10,604,584 tourists in the first nine months of 2002. The number of tourists showed 10.7 percent rise compared to the same period in 2001.

Turkey gains some $8 billion through tourism industry annually, and tourism is one of the main hard currency earner for Turkey. The industry plays a key role in the Turkish national economy.